Maidstone Child-Birth Death

The inquest into the death of a mum from Maidstone, following the birth of her third child, has found she was not given basic medical care.

Abimbola Babatola, 39, died on July 31, 2015 after complications following the operation to deliver her daughter, Vivienne, at Kings College Hospital in Camberwell, London.

She had sickle cell disease, had suffered two previous miscarriages but had experienced an uncomplicated pregnancy with her third child.

However, just days before the caesarean section, doctors reported that Abimbola had suffered from suspected pulmonary embolism (a blockage in her lungs) and was treated with blood-thinning medication.

At the inquest into her death, the coroner heard that after complications arose following an emergency caesarean section the doctors failed to administer even the basic level of medical care.

The coroner, Dr Andrew Harris, said the failure to give her a blood transfusion “amounted to neglect”.

Summing up his findings at the conclusion of the inquest, Mr Harris said there were a number of omissions in care which contributed to Abimbola’s death.

He said: “I am satisfied, with no evidence to the contrary, that with regard to the omissions that have contributed to her death, that all constitute the provision or procurement of basic medical care for a dependent person.”

Nigerian-born Abimbola’s death was recorded as brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation with collapse after the caesarean section, post-partum haemorrhage and sickle cell disease.

Richard Kayser, a specialist medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, representing Oladapo, said: “Abimbola’s family have been left completely devastated after losing her so suddenly”

"We hope that the failings highlighted during the inquest will provide the hospital with some learning points so that no one else will suffer needlessly as Abimbola did.”